Photography From Cuba (In-Person)

Unfiltered Cuba is a photography series including over 50 photos taken in Cuba by photographer Reynaldo Cruz between 2015 and 2021. Some of the photos were taken on assignment for Holguin’s local newspaper AHORA, but the majority were captured when Reynaldo was working as a street photographer for "I Love Cuba Photo Tours" in Havana.

While some of the images carry news value, most of them show a harsh reality of Cuba that tends to be overlooked in tourist brochures. These photos were captured off the beaten path, away from the glamour of hotels and beaches, and closer to the common people and the harsh realities some Cubans live.

Reynaldo Cruz Díaz (Holguín, Cuba, 1983) graduated with honors with a BA in English with French as a Second Foreign Language. After serving two years as a professor, he joined the local newspaper of his native Holguín as a translator and web editor. Within a month, he had already grabbed a point-and-shoot camera and was photographing for the publication. In March 2010, he started an independent online magazine named Universo Béisbol. Soon after, he garnered a reputation in baseball historians and analysts circles both in Cuba and the United States.

His magazine got recognition by MLB, and he was the only Cuban photographer with credentials to be on the field for the Tampa Bay Rays game in Havana with Barack Obama in attendance. During his trips to the US, he attended baseball conferences with the Society for American Baseball Research and received credentials for games in Fenway Park, Citi Field, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and Yankee Stadium, while also attending and covering Minor League Games. He attended two Hall of Fame Induction Weekends with Universo Béisbol and one while photographing for Swing Completo.

He crossed Río Grande in January 2022 and has already filed for asylum in the US.